Inspection at Terminals

A. P. Messenger.

Since 1881 the States have sought to protect themselves by legislation against the introduction of pest-infested plants and plant products that are shipped from one locality or State to another. Although the Federal Plant Quarantine Act recognized the authority of any State to place quarantines against products of other States that might be a means of introducing injurious agricultural pests, State laws did not apply to shipments of such articles by mail until the Postal Terminal Inspection Act was passed in 1915.

Before the parcel-post system was established in 1913, the weight limitations on fourth-class mail matter, including plants and seeds, was 4 pounds. That limit prevented the extensive use of the mails for shipping such articles. The original limit of 11 pounds for parcel post was increased to 20 pounds, then to 50 pounds, and finally to 70 pounds. The changes and the increase of the limit of size from 72 to 84 inches, then to 100 inches for length and girth combined, made parcel post available and more desirable for transporting nursery stock and plant products.

Long before the adoption of the Plant Quarantine Act, the Post Office Department adopted a regulation under which nursery stock is acceptable for mailing only when accompanied by a certificate from the State or Government inspector showing that the nursery or premises from which such matter is shipped has been inspected within a year and found free from injurious insects and plant diseases. The regulation has been a factor in retarding the spread of many serious pests established in nurseries.

With the increasing use of parcel-post facilities for transporting plants and plant products, officials of many States felt that the restrictions on nursery stock were inadequate, and through their efforts the Terminal Inspection Act was drafted and passed by the Congress on March 4, 1915. It requires that all such matter be held for inspection by the State officials before delivery to the consignee.

Any State that wants to take advantage of the provisions of the Terminal Inspection Act must establish and maintain a terminal inspection service of plants and plant products at its own expense at one or more places. The responsible State officials must submit to the Secretary of Agriculture a list of plants and plant products and the plant pests transmitted thereby that they believe should be subject to terminal inspection. Upon approval of the list, the Secretary of Agriculture transmits it to the Postmaster General. Thereafter, upon payment of postage therefor, all packages containing such plants or products are forwarded by the postmaster at the destination of the package to the proper State officer for inspection. The State inspector returns the plants or plant products to the place of inspection to be forwarded to the consignee if he finds that they do not violate a plant quarantine law and if they are free from injurious pests. He disinfests them if they are infested. If infested plants cannot be disinfested satisfactorily, the State official notifies the postmaster at the place of inspection, who in turn notifies the sender that they will be returned to him upon his request and at his expense or, in default of such request, the packages will be turned over to the State authority for destruction. The Act also requires that all such packages be plainly marked so their contents may be ascertained by an inspection of the outside. Whoever fails to mark such packages may be punished by a fine of not more than 100 dollars.

The handling of parcels subject to the Act was later simplified with a saving of postage to the sender whereby shipments can be addressed in care of the State inspector at a designated terminal inspection point, from which they may be forwarded to their ultimate destination, postage collect. Another modification of the Act permits the release of any uninfested material in a package; the sender is asked whether the infested material in it should be returned to him at his expense.

Another change in the Act, made effective in October of 1936, provided further cooperation by the Post Office Department in the enforcement of State plant quarantine laws and regulations. Previously, mailed parcels could be rejected under State authority only if they were found to be infested with injurious pests and could not be disinfected satisfactorily. Under the Act as amended, delivery of the parcels is to be withheld if the plants or plant products were mailed in violation of a plant quarantine law or plant quarantine regulation of the State. This, however, can be done only after the State concerned has submitted a list of plants and plant products, and plant pests transmitted thereby, together with a description of the area from which such articles are prohibited by State plant quarantine laws or plant quarantine regulations. Upon receipt of notices from the Secretary of Agriculture of the approval of such lists, the Post Office Department issues instructions to the postmaster to prevent the acceptance of such material when presented for mailing in violation of State plant quarantine laws or regulations.

Oystershell scale.

The amendment has been of particular benefit to States in guarding against the entry of pests that are not detectable by inspection at time of entry. Also, through an official publication of the Post Office Department, every postmaster in the United States is informed of the articles prohibited by any such law or regulation and the pests transmitted thereby, and can properly advise the sender concerning such articles as are prohibited by the destination State, thus saving mailing costs and in many cases the article itself which could not be delivered.

Terminal inspection was required in 1952 in Arizona, Arkansas, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Utah, and Washington.

Parcel post has become an important carrier of plants and many plant products. In California, one of the first States to enforce terminal inspection and a leader in efforts to obtain legislation amending the Act, the Terminal Inspection Act is now one of the most important laws in the effective enforcement of State plant quarantines.

A. P. MESSENGER attended the University of California and spent 7 years in ranching before he joined the Department of Agriculture in 1921. He was in charge of the enforcement of plant quarantines at the ports of San Pedro and San Francisco for 24 years. He was assistant chief of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine of the California Department of Agriculture from 1945 to 1948, when he became head of the Bureau of Plant Quarantine.